Samsung will tonight unveil the most hotly-anticipated mobile phone of the
year so far, the Samsung Galaxy SIII.

The handset will update the market-leading Galaxy SII, and is also expected to be the official phone of the London Olympics. It will be introduced at an event at Earl's Court, starting at 7pm this evening, it is believed.

Samsung has emerged as the only Android handset manufacturer capable of seriously challenging Apple. Across a broad range of devices, it already outsells the iPhone maker, although Apple remains more profitable.

Samsung overtook Apple in smartphone sales in the first quarter “in what is increasingly becoming a two-horse race”, according to Juniper Research. The two firms accounted for 60 per cent of the global smartphone market, which was 139m devices in total.

Samsung sold 47 million devices, compared to Apple’s 35 million, but its current flagship, the Galaxy Nexus, has struggled to match the 20 million sales of the Galaxy SII.

It is thought the new device will use a Samsung processor that offers four cores and can power high-definition content.

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Commentators suggest that Samsung will focus on NFC, the wireless technology that it has already confirmed it is collaborating with Visa to develop a payments platform, and that the screen will be bigger than the current device, which features a 4.3-inch display.

Rival manufacturers such as HTC have bundled online storage with their phones, while also offering improved camera technology. Other companies such as Sony have emphasised that their devices allow easy access to exclusive music and film content.